Sidetracked

I was a little nervous taking our daughter to her first play on Friday. After all, three scenarios kept popping into my head:

1.) She would be terrified and want to leave
2.) She would be bored to tears and want to leave.
3.) She would actually try to get on stage.

Luckily, none of these scenarios occurred, which is a testament to “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” playing at the San Luis Obispo Little Theatre.

Before I continue, I should note that our daughter, Sunny, just turned 4 this month. And in recent weeks, she has been frightened by relatively tame movies like “Underdog,” “Happy Feet” (yes, the dancing penguins) and “Ratatouille.”

In fact, we actually had to bail on the first two before they ended (and, no, I didn’t hate to leave early). Since then, we’ve pretty much stuck with movies featuring the Care Bears.

So I thought she might wig out at the prospect of a play featuring a bunch of less-than-attractive trolls. Not to mention a large bear and a giant character with a weird-looking tiki head. While the bear’s growl did startle her, and the Tiki did freak her out a bit, she didn’t try to run and hide. In fact, she was focused on the entire play, clapping at various points and whispering questions about the plot.

As we noted in last Thursday’s Ticket story, “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” is similar to “Beauty and the Beast.” To sum it up quickly: Girl has bad family, family trades girl to bear, bear is cursed, girl falls for bear, bear is a prince.

I especially wanted Sunny to see it not only because it’s fairy tale, but because all of the actors are kids themselves, some as young as 8. And, of course, I had hoped their performances would inspire her, leading to the inevitable post-play question: “Sunny, do you think you would like to be in a play someday?”

Of course, I said this with my fingers half crossed. And when she nodded, I wanted to pump a fist and shout, “Booooyah!”

It’s not that I’m a pushy parent. It’s just that theater kids always seem so confident. Which was obviously the case with these kids, led by Lauren Romero, a high school freshman who plays Tov, the girl who eventually falls for the bear/prince.

Expertly made costumes and an appealing set helped complete the performance — one Sunny will hopefully remember as her first.

There were a few other kids in the crowd (they also behaved very well), though surprisingly most audience members were adults.

There is a week left. So if you have kids, Sunny recommends you take them to the Little Theatre. She does not recommend “Underdog” or “Happy Feet.”

–Pat P.

Posted on December 10th, 2007 by Pat
Filed under: Theater